Virtual Crime Spotter

Sadly, we get a lot of crime in DC and several of our neighbors were recently mugged. So we were excited to come across this virtual crime spotter via lifehacker. Normally we praise living in the District and tease our suburban friends but it's startling to see the starkly lower amount of crime in MD and NoVa (Northern VA) on a map...

The muggings of our friends happened yesterday and are not up yet on the site. The DC link seems to be a bit delayed.

The DC police department also has a similar service on its website. We love the idea of these virtual crime spotters but are wondering about their accuracy. Has anyone tried them out?